CSW62 Side event: Tackling Climate Change through the Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished Guests,

 

It is a pleasure for me to address you today in relation to this crucially important topic on behalf of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

 

Without a doubt, all of you have been witnesses to the devastating effects of climate change and related natural disasters, and the serious threats they pose to livelihoods and food security worldwide.

 

Indeed, it is often the poorest – and most food insecure – that are the hardest hit. These vulnerable populations typically include small-scale agricultural producers who depend on favorable weather conditions and have more limited capacity to absorb shocks, such as droughts or floods.

 

In all of this, we can also detect an unfortunate trend: the most climate-vulnerable smallholders are often rural women.

 

At the same time, the strong climate change mitigation potential of rural women is evident through a number of practices, such as improved cooking stoves, biomass usage for energy and biogas, and fish smoking techniques.

 

Building climate resilience of rural livelihoods to climate change as well as addressing existing gender inequalities in the agriculture sector are both at the heart of FAO’s mandate and enshrined in dedicated corporate policies.

 

FAO systematically collects sex-disaggregated data, including the valuation of physical damages and economic losses, and the identification of gender-differentiated recovery needs based on information obtained from affected men and women.

 

FAO’s has also provided solid evidence-based knowledge products in support of gender-responsive climate-smart agriculture practices which are successfully tested in field projects.

 

In parallel with community-level interventions, FAO provides policy guidance to countries and regional economic communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to integrate gender into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

 

As highlighted by many notable representatives and dignitaries today, Small Island Developing States share unique and particular climate vulnerabilities, resulting in a set of related food security and nutrition challenges.

 

Women play a central role in food systems in SIDS, as they make up 52 % of the agricultural work force. In this respect, fish and fishing are culturally and economically critical for most SIDS. For instance, they provide an income for up to 50 % of households in the Pacific region.  However, a combination of ineffective management and over-exploitation has resulted significant threats to food security in the region.

 

To tackle the aforementioned complex challenges, FAO and its partners recently launched the Global Action Programme on Food Security and Nutrition in Small Island Developing States (GAP).  

 

To deliver on the Global  Action Programme, FAO will work closely with a number of SIDS organizations, including the Pacific Community, as part of a cross-regional multi-agency collaborative network. This work has already started in Fiji, Samoa; Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, Jamaica and Grenada and is bound to flourish further.

 

FAO and its partners strongly believe that a focus on gender equality in the implementation of the GAP is crucial. Interventions will include the integration of women’s empowerment into climate-resilience programming in the agriculture sectors and providing support to community groups to build capacities on production and processing of locally grown, safe and nutritious foods. This collaboration will also focus on the development of school food programmes and nutrition education programmes. 

 

FAO will also continue to work closely with SIDS to support of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and a gender-equitable governance and development of this important sub-sector. 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

We must confront the reality that deep-seeded gender inequalities are resulting in an inequitable distribution of climate impacts.  Rural women’s needs must be at the core of our efforts to scale up climate action in the agricultural sectors and beyond.

 

In collaboration with its partners, FAO is committed to fully deploy its own efforts to empower rural women through climate action in the agricultural sectors. 

 

Thank you.